I started to introduce classical music to the kids early on. The first performance they saw (4.5 and 2.5 YO) was the Nutcracker. I bought tickets in a side box where there was a door if we had to leave during the show. Because of the dancers, story (which they knew) and general decor, they didn't move a muscle.

The symphonic orchestra in my town has a children's series. The pieces are upbeat, short and fun. They are also paired up with something else. For "Le Carnaval des Animaux", the local zoo brought some of their animals for the kids to learn about. I also learned that petting a snake is nice (never too old and such). Later, my son was able to watch a whole opera on TV sitting quietly beside me.

So, yeah, you can bring a child to cultural events, just make sure you can 1) get out without fuss if need be, 2) that it's age appropriate.

Sidenote: I want to track down whoever said that snakes are slimy and force feed them cabbage that's been soaking in brine for two days with spinach and chicken fat. At least then, they'll know what slimy is. Snakes are *silky*.

Sorry, maybe I missed something. Who on earth would think a snake is slimy? And why would you feed an obligate carnivore weird vegetables? That's downright cruel. But I grew up in Australia, which is more snakey than a lot of other countries, I suppose. Do a sizable number of people really think snakes are slimy and that it's okay to feed them spinach and stuff?

I think she meant the person who calls snakes 'slimy' should be forced to eat that. Then they'd know what the word 'slimy' really means!

Sidenote: I want to track down whoever said that snakes are slimy and force feed them cabbage that's been soaking in brine for two days with spinach and chicken fat. At least then, they'll know what slimy is. Snakes are *silky*.

Sorry, maybe I missed something. Who on earth would think a snake is slimy? And why would you feed an obligate carnivore weird vegetables? That's downright cruel. But I grew up in Australia, which is more snakey than a lot of other countries, I suppose. Do a sizable number of people really think snakes are slimy and that it's okay to feed them spinach and stuff?

I think she meant the person who calls snakes 'slimy' should be forced to eat that. Then they'd know what the word 'slimy' really means!

This, and for exactly this reason.

And can someone dig an oubliette for the person who first said that medieval people put lots of spices on their food to cover up the taste of rotten meat? We could lower a bucket of spoiled chicken covered in cinnamon every day. And a few snakes.

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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Common sense is not a gift, but a curse. Because thenyou have to deal with all the people who don't have it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sidenote: I want to track down whoever said that snakes are slimy and force feed them cabbage that's been soaking in brine for two days with spinach and chicken fat. At least then, they'll know what slimy is. Snakes are *silky*.

Sorry, maybe I missed something. Who on earth would think a snake is slimy? And why would you feed an obligate carnivore weird vegetables? That's downright cruel. But I grew up in Australia, which is more snakey than a lot of other countries, I suppose. Do a sizable number of people really think snakes are slimy and that it's okay to feed them spinach and stuff?

I think she meant the person who calls snakes 'slimy' should be forced to eat that. Then they'd know what the word 'slimy' really means!

This, and for exactly this reason.

And can someone dig an oubliette for the person who first said that medieval people put lots of spices on their food to cover up the taste of rotten meat? We could lower a bucket of spoiled chicken covered in cinnamon every day. And a few snakes.

I submit the SS "Everyone notice how CULTURED we are!" Family at the symphony last night. Last night, my husband and I attended a symphony performance we'd been looking forward to for months. When we walked in, we noticed a set of parents with a four-ish year old boy, two-ish year old girl and an infant so tiny he couldn't have been more than six weeks. The mom was telling anyone who would listen that the four year old just loved the featured composer and DEMANDED that the family spend the evening at the symphony, so what could they do but bend to his need for classical music education? The Dad just stood there and nodded.

As soon as the symphony keyed up, so did the baby, SCREAMING his way through most of the first piece. The ushers finally asked the mother to step out of the hall, but we could hear her huffing, "I'm here so my CHILDREN can experience this music. Isn't that what the symphony is all about?" over the music and we were sitting a balcony level away.

At intermission, I heard the mother coaching the son while speaking to other attendants, "Wasn't the violin concerto just WONDERFUL, son? Wasn't the adagio well-executed? What did you think of the melodic theme?" While the son blinked sleepily and nodded his head because it was 8:30 and probably past his bedtime.

During the last piece, the piece I was really looking forward to, we could hear the two year old begging, "Can we just GO? I wanna GO! I don't want to be here anymore!" As we were leaving, the mother was bragging about how very advanced her children were and how she would do anything to meet their very advanced needs, that they were so much more cultured than the average family because her father was a professor at such and such college.

The thing is, the symphony has a children's program where they have a smaller scale performance and the conductor gives explanations of the instruments, the musical pieces, the composers' life, musical theory, etc., at their level. The kids probably would have gotten so much more out of that performance than last night's concert. But I get the feeling the mom just wanted everyone to know how very advanced and cultured her children were.

I see you've met my SIL, We went to the ballet and she allowed her then 4 year old to talk though out entire performance of Nutcracker. THE.ENTIRE.PER.FOR.MANCE. I told her repeatedly to quiet the kid, the ushers asked her to leave, the people around her finally told her to "shut up" and her response "she's asking about the play, she can talk." and made no effort to quiet her.. it ended up with two rows around her standing in back so we could listen to the music rather than the kid. I still refuse to go to movies, symphonies and plays with them, and they can't afford to go it I don't pay - so they don't go and I get told that I am 'denying the kids culture in their lives because I am too selfish' for refusing to inflict the kids ( who have still not been taught to shut up during a performance at 8, 11 and 18) on other folks.

As far as culture snobs: my music teacher is the worst. He teaches, actively , that fiddler players can never be as good as symphony players, even if they have a Master's in Music Performance "because if they were actually good, they would not be playing fiddle" - and that they "are always out of tune" and more. I am telling you if there were another teacher willing to take on adults in my town, I would move, but there's only him in reasonable driving distance.

I sang with a symphony chorus for many years. There were conductors who would stop in the middle of a piece and refuse to continue if there was a screaming child or other disturbance in the audience.

On the other hand, there was one conductor who was both a musical genius and a genuinely good person. The orchestra was performing at a community memorial event. Tickets were cheap, and it was promoted as a family event. In the middle of the New World Symphony, a baby started crying in the balcony. The conductor looked into the balcony and smiled beatifically. He proceeded to make the child's crying part of the piece. It added a great deal of meaning to the music, making the audience truly consider the emotions embodied in the work. If Dvorak could've written a crying baby into the piece, I believe he would have done so.

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It takes two people to play tug of war. If you don't want to play, don't pick up the rope.

There's a common misconception that snakes are slimy, like worms. I think that Diane meant to force-feed the person who introduced that misconception into the popular collective the vegetation, not snakes!

Actually, I found the texture of the snake to be like my kitchen linoleum... smooth, cool, little bumps and dips.

There's a common misconception that snakes are slimy, like worms. I think that Diane meant to force-feed the person who introduced that misconception into the popular collective the vegetation, not snakes!

Ah, thank you. That changes it from "horribly cruel" to "plain stupid," which is less upsetting and more amusing.

Slimy snakes? I'd never heard that one before. The closest I can think of is a kid at work telling me that alligators are smooth and crocodiles are bumpy. Oh, and that only one of them is able to smile. D'awww.

Oh, yes. Many people think that snakes are slimy. That isn't at all true. A healthy snake feels like cool velvet. I love to lightly pat a snake any chance I get.

Sorry, maybe I missed something. Who on earth would think a snake is slimy?

I think it's because some people think snakes are repulsive, and slimy things are repulsive, therefore...I know in my brain that snakes are not slimy or clammy, but I still have to remind myself of that fact before I handle one. I don't know where I got the idea, aside from the fact that my father has a snake phobia. But I just can't handle a snake as effortlessly as I pet a cat or dog.

Regarding culture, I often see on fbook people who live in the area whining that there's no culture in this town. In fact before I moved I contacted a college aquaintance to let her know I was moving to her hometown and she said "I ought to let you know, there's a shortage of the culture in that town that you've probably gotten used to having there..."

Well I get here and in the past 3 1/2 years we've lived here, I can't say this area lacks for culture. We have the Western Maryland Blues Fest, Augtoberfest, we had a multicultural day, and in addition to that we also have a small local theater, heck we even have an arts school and two art museums in the park. They're small, granted, and not to the same scale as the Smithsonian but it's still culture. And in the summer there's a concert fest at the band shell in the park.

And when we have the cultural events, where are the folks who whine about lack of culture? In their homes, on fbook, whining about the noise and all the cars parked on the streets.

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Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Be cheerful, strive to be happy. -Desiderata

Regarding culture, I often see on fbook people who live in the area whining that there's no culture in this town. In fact before I moved I contacted a college aquaintance to let her know I was moving to her hometown and she said "I ought to let you know, there's a shortage of the culture in that town that you've probably gotten used to having there..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Common sense is not a gift, but a curse. Because thenyou have to deal with all the people who don't have it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Regarding culture, I often see on fbook people who live in the area whining that there's no culture in this town. In fact before I moved I contacted a college aquaintance to let her know I was moving to her hometown and she said "I ought to let you know, there's a shortage of the culture in that town that you've probably gotten used to having there..."

We're about an hour and a half from Baltimore, and maybe about the same, hour and a half, two hours from DC, depending on traffic. It's really not that far at all. Inconvenient perhaps if someone doesn't drive or doesn't have a lot of money but one of the things I like about my town is that most of the activities around here can be done for very little $ for people on a budget.

The W. MD Blues Fest for one, is held over a weekend and while there are events you need to buy a ticket for, they always have a free day on Sunday in the park and it's good music (if you like Blues, which I do enjoy) The art museums in the park ask for a donation but there's no entrance fee.

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Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Be cheerful, strive to be happy. -Desiderata

It was assumed by many visitors that, if you didn't have an MFA, you couldn't posssibly know anything about art or culture. If you weren't a working artist, you had no right to have an opinion about art.

It drove me nuts.

DH's boss and wife are like this. It blows their minds any time I see them and know San artist or musician they're talking about. Last time I asked them if they'd seen a specific permanent exhibit of their "favorite artist" they didn't know existed! Plus I played violin from 3rd grade to 12 so I'm not the total redneck they think we are. (hubby got em good when he told them he took me tom see "Phantom" when it came to town)

The kids at concerts reminds me of an Irish Christmas concert I attended last year and billed as suitable for families. Except the family behind us had a baby and a 2-years-old. The toddler asked constantly, "What's that? What's that." Then after the break, the baby started crying. During a quiet piece of music, the couple behind talked through the entire piece along with "What's that?" I had had it. I turned around and said, "Shhhhh," and the father finally took the two kids out and the couple behind shut up. No more family concerts where people can't keep their kids quiet, not that the people behind us were any better.

Regarding culture, I often see on fbook people who live in the area whining that there's no culture in this town. In fact before I moved I contacted a college aquaintance to let her know I was moving to her hometown and she said "I ought to let you know, there's a shortage of the culture in that town that you've probably gotten used to having there..."

We're about an hour and a half from Baltimore, and maybe about the same, hour and a half, two hours from DC, depending on traffic. It's really not that far at all. Inconvenient perhaps if someone doesn't drive or doesn't have a lot of money but one of the things I like about my town is that most of the activities around here can be done for very little $ for people on a budget.

The W. MD Blues Fest for one, is held over a weekend and while there are events you need to buy a ticket for, they always have a free day on Sunday in the park and it's good music (if you like Blues, which I do enjoy) The art museums in the park ask for a donation but there's no entrance fee.

OT. Have you attended the Renaissance Fair outside Annapolis yet? It runs every weekend thru most of October. It is family friendly and has a lot of arts, plays, music and even the hidden history gem as well as real jousting. Until DH and I moved west it was one of our yearly splurges.

Regarding culture, I often see on fbook people who live in the area whining that there's no culture in this town. In fact before I moved I contacted a college aquaintance to let her know I was moving to her hometown and she said "I ought to let you know, there's a shortage of the culture in that town that you've probably gotten used to having there..."

We're about an hour and a half from Baltimore, and maybe about the same, hour and a half, two hours from DC, depending on traffic. It's really not that far at all. Inconvenient perhaps if someone doesn't drive or doesn't have a lot of money but one of the things I like about my town is that most of the activities around here can be done for very little $ for people on a budget.

The W. MD Blues Fest for one, is held over a weekend and while there are events you need to buy a ticket for, they always have a free day on Sunday in the park and it's good music (if you like Blues, which I do enjoy) The art museums in the park ask for a donation but there's no entrance fee.

OT. Have you attended the Renaissance Fair outside Annapolis yet? It runs every weekend thru most of October. It is family friendly and has a lot of arts, plays, music and even the hidden history gem as well as real jousting. Until DH and I moved west it was one of our yearly splurges.

I used to go more often when I lived closer, I even worked there back in '09 at one of the food vendors. It was awesome, and they called me the next year to ask if I'd come back, but with the drive (about an hour and 45 minutes) and what they were going to pay me (min wage) I politely declined, as the pay wouldn't even cover the gas it took to get there. We've been saying we'd like to go though for a day.

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Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Be cheerful, strive to be happy. -Desiderata